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13th Annual F.T.Prince Memorial lecture

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The School of Humanities is pleased to invite you to the 13th annual F. T. Prince Memorial Lecture, which will take place on Tuesday 28 October 2025 at 18:00 on the University of Southampton’s Avenue Campus. We are delighted to welcome Mary Jean Chan to speak at this year's event, presenting their lecture: "Forms of Grief: Elegiac Writing and Strict(er) Poetic Forms".

 

Forms of Grief: Elegiac Writing and Strict(er) Poetic Forms

In this lecture, Dr Mary Jean Chan will explore the ways in which strict(er) poetic forms such as the sestina, the villanelle, the sonnet, the tanka and the specular poem enable one's articulation of grief and loss. Through close reading a range of work by modern and contemporary poets such as Elizabeth Bishop, Natalie Diaz, Terrance Hayes, Victoria Chang and Julia Copus, Chan will explore their ongoing attempts at writing in the aftermath of collective and personal grief through sharing poems from Flèche (Faber, 2019), Bright Fear (Faber, 2023), as well as newer work.

 

Books by Mary Jean Chan will be available for purchase on the night from October Books.

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About the speaker

Mary Jean Chan is the author of Flèche (Faber, 2019), which won the Costa Book Award for Poetry. Bright Fear (Faber, 2023), Chan's second book, was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Collection, the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Writer’s Prize. Chan edited the anthology 100 Queer Poems (Vintage, 2022) with Andrew McMillan and served as a judge for the 2023 Booker Prize. A 2023-24 Judith E. Wilson Poetry Fellow, Chan is currently Departmental Lecturer in Poetry on the MSt in Creative Writing at the University of Oxford and a Research Fellow at Harris Manchester College, Oxford.

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About the F. T. Prince Lecture

This annual lecture series takes place in honour of the poet and scholar F. T. Prince, who was one of Southampton's first English professors. Invited speakers explore new directions in literary studies, drawing on the English department's wide range of intellectual interests.

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This event is co-organised by the University of Southampton English department and the Winchester Poetry Festival.​

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Event Information

Guests can join this event in person at Avenue Campus, University of Southampton, or online. Please select your ticket choice when booking.

We encourage guests who wish to join in person to register at your earliest opportunity as spaces are strictly limited.​

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